Submerged type hydraulic valve lifter



1962 J. VAN SLOOTEN 3,048,156

SUBMERGED TYPE HYDRAULIC VALVE LIFTER Filed April 17, 1961 2Sheets-Sheet l {NVENTOIL 43w; d 16w $70056 AT TORN EY Aug. 7, 1962 J.VAN SLOOTEN SUBMERGED TYPE HYDRAULIC VALVE LIFTER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledApril 17, 1961 INVENTOR. fiwdlayovz? A TORNEY- United htates Ratch t a048,156 'SUBMERGED TYPE HYDRAULIC VALVE LIFTER Louis J. Van Slooten,West Olive, Mich, assignor to General Motors Corporation, Detroit,Mich., a corporation of Delaware Filed Apr. 17, 1961, Ser. No. 103,297Claims. (Cl. 123--90) This invention relates to hydraulic valve lifterssuch as are used tor operating the valves of overhead valve typeinternal combustion engines, and particularly to the means for supplyingsuch lifters with hydraulic fluid.

While it has long been common practice to supply such lifters with oilunder pressure from the engine lubricating system, either via side portsin the lifter body and plunger from an engine oil gallery in thecrankcase or cylinder block, or by gravity feed via the push rod fromthe rocker lubricating passages, the valve lifters in all successfulsuch arrangements have necessarily included a push rod seat member fortransmitting the thrust motion between the lower end of the push rod andthe plunger of the lifter. The requirement of this additional part hasadded to the cost and weight of the valve lifter, and has the furtherdisadvantage of tending to'inc-rease the necessary length of the lifterbody and plunger since the transmission of thrust to the push rod withthis arrangement necessarily occurs at the upper end of the plunger andsulficient lateral bearing area must be provided on the plunger andlifter body to maintain side loading pressures on these parts withinacceptable limits for While attempts have been made to eliminateplunger, difliculty has been encounted in maintaining a satisfactorysupply of air-free oil to the check valve controlled passage which leadsthrough the plunger to the oil cushion chamber below it in the bottom ofthe lifter body. The high speed of lifter reciprocation under operatingconditions tends to aerate the oil in the plunger and prevent its readyavailability for supplying the check valve passage. While the crankcasestructure forming the lifter guide bore can be extended upwardly toprovide a larger storage reservoir for oil to be supplied to theplunger, such an expedient considerably increases the cost of'theengine, makes servicing of the litters more difficult, and requiresspecial provisions for insuring an adequate head of oil above the lifterunder all conditions of engine operation.

The desired objective of eliminating the requirement for theaforementioned push rod seat part is accomplished in a verysimple andeconomical manner in accordance with my invention through the use of aremovable standpipe which surrounds the push rod. The standpipe can beeasily mounted so as to seal at its lower end to the lifter bore shelfwhich projects laterally from the crankcase of the conventional engine.Adjacent its upper end the standpipe can be conveniently supported by abracket, such as a stamping clamped to the top of the cylinder head inany desired manner.

If desired, the standpipe can be periodically refilled as to conduct theoil from the rocker oil passages 21 similar overflow port can beprovided in the side of the push rod for the same purpose.

The invention will be more clearly understood from the followingdescription, having reference to the drawings, wherein:

FIGRE l is a transverse sectional view through a portion of one side ofan internal combustion V-type engine embodying one form of theinvention.

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary view similar to FIGURE 1, but'showing aslightly different arrangement or" the standpipe.

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the diaphragm shown inFIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary view similar to FIGURES 1 and 2, but showing astill further embodiment of the invention.

As shown in FIGURE 1, the invention is embodied in an internalcombustion engine comprising a crankcase 1, integrally tormed with whichis an engine working cylinder 2 extending upwardly at an angle to thevertical, it being understood that one or more additional such cylinders2 may form one bank of a V-type engine and a similar bank of cylinders(not shown) are inclined oppositely to form the other half of the V. Theengine is of the so-called overhead valve type in which each cylinderhas a downwardly opening poppet valve 4 mounted in the cylinder head 3to control a port 4 in the combustion chamber 5 above the power piston6. The valve 4 is normally held in its closed position as shown by aspring 7 and openable against the biasing force of the spring by a valverocker 8 journaled on a shaft 9 which is suitably supported on thecylinder head by one or more pedestals 10*. The driven end 11 of therocker engages the upper end of a push rod 12 which extends toward thecrankcase and seats at its lower. end

' in the plunger 13 of a hydraulic valve lifter designated necessary,with oil or other hydraulic fluid to be used in the lifter, a slidinglaterally flexible seal being provided between the push rod and thestandpipe adjacent its upper end. Alternatively, the'standpipe can bearranged to receive and store oil flowing thereinto along the push rodfrom the rocker lubricating system, the interior of the standpipe beingbafiled to prevent undesirable agi-tation and surge of the oil thereinin the vicinity above the lifter. By providing a side port in thestandpipe intermediate its ends the head of oil therein can bemaintained as desired, and if the push rod is made hollow generally bythe numeral 14. The pluinger 13 is slidably reciproca-ble in thecup-shaped body of the lifter whose side Walls are indicated at 15 andits end Wall at 16. The end wall .16 of the lifter abuts the usualengine camshaft 17 and is slidably guided tor reciprocation thereby in alitter bore 18 formed in a shelf 19extending laterally of the crankcasefrom the working cylinder 2. The opposite corresponding hydraulic valvelifter associted with the other bank of the engine is indicated at 20.The interior of the lifter body below the plunger 13 forms an oilcushion chamber 21, to which oil may flow via a one-way passage 22centrally through the plunger13, the one-way flow being effected by acheck valve 23. Slots 24 formed in the plunger opposite the lower end ofthe push rod permit oil to enter the passage 22 from the interior of theplunger and the interior of the lifter body above the plunger.

Surrounding the push rod is a standpipe 25 which extends upwardly fromthe shelf 19 and/is sealed thereto adjacent the bore 18 by any suitablesealing means such as the O-ring 26. By extending the standpipe upthrough the push rod openings 27 and 28 in the cylinder block structureand head 3, respectively, an adequately large oil storage capacity isobtained for oil supplied to the lifter, and the end of the standpipecan be conveniently supported by a bracket 29 in the form of a stampingclamped to the top of the cylinder head'by the rocker pedestal ltl. Inthe particular engine shown, oil for lubricating the rocker is conductedthrough the gallery 3t formed by the hollow rocker seal 9. A pair ofconnecting passages 31 and 32 in the rocker connect its bearing surfaceon the shaft 9 with the upper end of the push rod 12, and the excess oildelivered thereby drains down the push rod into the standpipe 25 forsupplying the hydraulic lifter. To prevent any execessive aoaazeeagitation of the oil collected in the lower portion of the standpipe,there is provided a baille 33 extending inwardly from the internal wallsurfaces of the latter and provided With a central opening 34sufiiciently large to accommodate all movements of the push rod.

Instead of relying on the continuous oil fed from the valve rocker, thestandpipe 25 may be periodically filled with the oil or other fluid tobe used in the hydraulic lifter. In such case, a laterally flexible seal35 in the form of a diaphragm may be inserted between the push rod andthe inner wall surfaces of the standpipe as shown in FIGURE 2. Suchdiaphragm as best illustrated in FIGURE 3 is reinforced at its outerperiphery by a rigid metal ring 35', which may be press-fitted into thestandpipe 25, and its internal periphery is oppositely flanged as at 36to effect a sliding seal on the push rod 12. Each such filling of thestandpipe can be readily effected after removal of the push rod 12 anddirecting the oil or other fluid to be used through the central openingin the diaphragm.

Where desired to limit the head of oil within the standpipe, as suppliedfrom the rocker oil passages 32 and 31, an overflow port 37 is providedin the side wall of the standpipe. This is illustrated in FIGURE 4. Asalso showvn therein, a hollow push rod 12 may be used to conduct the oilfrom the valve rocker, and an overflow side port 38 in the push rodserves to limit the head of oil obtainable.

Each of the various arrangements above described accomplishes theprincipal objective of enabling the push rod 12 to connect at its lowerend directly with the plunger 13 of the lifter, obviating therequirement of a push rod seat to transmit the thrust between these twoparts. A shorter and therefore less expensive hydraulic lifter results,together with all the advantages of submerged type lifter operationwhich is not dependent upon delay-s in pressure feeding from the enginelubricating system, yet avoids the additional weight and complicationembodied in previous proposals for obtaining the necessary oil storagecapacity by an enlargement of extension of the crankcase and cylinderstructure.

While only three preferred embodiments of the invention have beendisclosed, it is appreciated that numerous minor changes in theconstruction and arrangement of the parts may be made without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the follow ingclaims.

I claim:

1. In an internal combustion engine of the overhead valve type having acylinder head, a valve operating rocker mounted on the head, an enginecrankcase having a rocker driving camshaft therein spaced below thedriven end of the rocker, a hydraulic valve lifter includ ing acup-shaped body having its end wall abutting the camshaft and a plungerreciprocably slidable in said body, a shelf extending laterally from thecrankcase and provided with a bore slidably guiding said body forreciprocation by the camshaft, a push rod thrustably connecting theplunger to the driven end of the rocker, said plunger having a onewaypassage for introducing oil into the body below the plunger forthrustably supporti ing the plunger therein, means for conducting oil tothe push rod at the driven end of the rocker, a removable standpipedefining an oil storage chamber surrounding the push rod above saidlifter guiding bore, said standpipe having sealing means connecting itto the shelf a-djacent said bore, and a standpipe supporting bracketfixed to the upper end of the standpipe and to the cylinder head belowthe rocker, said standpipe having an internal baffle surrounding thepush rod and spaced above said shelf.

2. In an internal combustion engine of the overhead valve type having acrankcase, a working cylinder extending generally upwardly therefrom, acylinder head, a valve operating rocker mounted on the cylinder head, acamshaft rotatable in the crankcase laterally of the cylinder, saidcrankcase having a shelf extending laterally of the cylinder above thecamshaft, said shelf having a bore extending therethrough, a hydraulicvalve lifter including a generally cup-shaped body having an end wallabutting the camshaft and side walls slidably fitting said bore, anupwardly open generally cup-shaped plunger in said body, a push rodextending into and seated against the lower end of said plunger, saidpush rod extending into driving engagement at its other end with therocker, said plunger having a close sliding fit with the internalsurfaces of the body side walls and a check valve controlled passageaccommodating one-way flow of fluid through the plunger toward said bodyend wall, said passage being open to the interior of said plunger and ofsaid body above the plunger, and a removable standpipe surrounding thepush rod and extending upwardly from said shelf, seal-ing meanssurrounding said lifter bore between said shelf and the lower end ofsaid standpipe, and a bracket securing said standpipe to the engineabove said shelf.

3. The invention of claim 2, wherein said rocker isprovided with an oilpassage leading to the upper end of the push rod, said push rod beinghollow and open at its upper end to said rocker passage and having aside port intermediate its ends for delivery of oil to said interior ofthe lifter body above the plunger via said standpipe.

4..The invention of claim 3, wherein said standpipe has a side portintermediate its ends through which oil therealbove within the standpipeis by-passed to the crankcase.

5. The invention of claim 2, wherein a laterally flexible diaphragmsurrounds the push rod within the upper portion of the standpipe, saiddiaphragm having its outer periphery fixedly sealed to the internal wallsurface of the standpipe and its inner periphery in slidable sealingengagement with the push rod.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,993,875 Daub Mar. 12, 1935 2,025,836 Treiber Dec. 31, 1935 2,306,554Morehouse Dec. 29, 1942 2,386,317 Jenny et a1. Oct. 9, 1945 2,657,679Powell Nov. 3, 1953 2,667,149 Purchas et a1. Jan. 26, 1954

